Singapore Bourse May Halt Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has finished lower in back-to-back sessions, sinking more than a dozen points or 0.3 percent in that span. The Straits Times Index now sits just shy of the 3,910-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on hopes for an end to hostilities between Israel and Iran. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The STI finished slightly lower on Monday as losses from the financials were mitigated by support from the industrials.

For the day, the index dipped 2.96 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 3,908.46 after trading between 3,891.82 and 3,915.20.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT shed 0.38 percent, while CapitaLand Investment sank 0.78 percent, City Developments sipped 0.20 percent, DBS Group shed 0.65 percent, Keppel Ltd jumped 1.94 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust lost 0.51 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding both advanced 0.89 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation slid 0.25 percent, Seatrium Limited added 0.49 percent, SembCorp Industries strengthened 1.74 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering rallied 2.05 percent, Wilmar International gained 0.33 percent and CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, Genting Singapore, Hongkong Land, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, SATS, SingTel and Thai Beverage were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages opened higher on Monday and remained in the green throughout the trading day, ending near session highs.

The Dow jumped 317.30 points or 0.75 percent to finish at 42,515.09, while the NASDAQ rallied 294.39 points or 1.52 percent to close at 19,701.21 and the S&P 500 gained 56.14 points or 0.94 percent to end at 6,033.11.

The rally on Wall Street came as traders looked to pick up stocks at somewhat reduced levels following the previous session's nosedive, which came after Israel launched a series of airstrikes against Iran.

The rebound on Wall Street also came as traders looked ahead to a meeting of major world leaders at the G7 summit in the Canadian Rockies later this week.

The Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy announcement is also likely to attract attention from traders in the coming days. While the central bank is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, the accompanying statement and Fed officials' latest projections may provide more clarity about the outlook for rates.

Crude oil price fell sharply on Monday after reports that Iran signaled its readiness to end its hostility with Israel. West Texas Intermediate crude oil for July delivery closed down by $1.21 to settle at $71.77 per barrel.